Maybe We'll Find Better Days
by bloodredcherries
Summary: A series of oneshots from Richard and Sharon's relationship.
1. Theoretically

**TITLE/PROMPT:** Theoretically/Snob  
><strong>AUTHOR:<strong> mkrobinson/bloodredcherries  
><strong>RATING:<strong> PG-13 (mentions of smoking, some curses, a reference to a racial slur)  
><strong>WORDS:<strong> 2438  
><strong>TABLE:<strong>.#cutid1  
><strong>SUMMARY:<strong> _Richie Spier called her a snob, and she certainly wasn't one!_ Sharon Porter makes the decision to go to Stoneybrook High instead of Stoneybrook Day and changes her life forever.  
><strong>WARNINGS:<strong> None really  
><strong>NOTES:<strong> This is a companion piece to "For A Second Time" that takes place Sharon and Richard's senior year at SHS.

Sharon Porter decided to go to Stoneybrook High School instead of Stoneybrook Day School out of a sense of self-preservation. She knew, rather logically, that she wasn't smart enough to go to such an accelerated college-preparatory high school, even though Kathy McGuire and Marjorie Brewer were planning on attending, but after her disastrous experience at Stoneybrook Academy, she'd had had enough.

For the first time in her life, her parents are disappointed in her, but she doesn't care.

She doesn't take the bus to SHS, there isn't one from McLelland Road, even though Stoneybrook Day has one, and her parents refuse to drive her, so she walks. On her way past, Kathy and Marjorie and their other friends whisper to one another, and she just knows they're talking about her. She can't help being distracted and scatterbrained and she can't help that she's not as smart as them, even though she can't explain it.

She is a Porter, and, theoretically, the Porters are always perfect.

***

Richie Spier thinks that she is a snob, and she hates him for it. Just because she lives in the wealthy part of town and because she's friends with the Brewers and McGuires (and she isn't, really, Marjorie's starting to become most obnoxious and Kathy hasn't spoken to her since she told her off for making fun of Miyoshi's older sister and saying a most awful racial slur that isn't even factual because Miyoshi's family is Japanese) and because her father is rude to his because his Playboys are sometimes late certainly doesn't make her a snob! She made fudge for the maid one Christmas and gave some to Mr. Spier as well because he's nice to her!

How dare he call her a snob? It's so terribly rude!

She even thinks he's sort of cute!

She joins the Young Republicans group at SHS because Richie belongs to them, and because she knows that her parents are republicans, even though she really can't focus on politics for very long because she gets so confused.

They start a tentative friendship.

She tells him about how Marjorie and Kathy and the others made fun of her for going to the Resource Room, and he tells her about how his mother isn't the town drunk, but that she is sick, and they reach an understanding. She lets him tutor her in English, which she desperately needs, and she gets him a job at Bellairs, where Marjorie's brother Watson worked before going to work for Unity.

They share a kiss against their shared locker their sophomore year. She's a cheerleader, somewhat popular, and he's still a bit of a nerd, but they love each other, and she's sure that's all that matters.

Miyoshi agrees, but her older sister, Rioko, says something that Sharon can't understand about class differences and social implications or something (she's very smart, nearly a genius, and she considers Sharon to be somewhat of a friend after the incident with Kathy), but she's sure her parents will love him.

Rioko is right. Sharon is wrong.

***

Even Marjorie doesn't like him. Her supposed best friend.

"I don't understand what you see in him, Sharry. Watson is available, and Daddy will make him head of Unity someday. But no, you have to have your heart set on Richard Spier. Did you know his father delivers our mail?"  
>"If I wanted to go out with Watson, I would have. I don't see why you have to make such a big deal out of me dating Richie, Marjorie. You just don't understand."<br>"It's just that he's poor, Sharry. He has no money! You're a Porter, Sharry. I wish you'd start acting like one."  
>"What is that supposed to mean?"<br>"Well, you know, you have been all weird since you transferred to SHS. It's bizarre. I wish that you hadn't left Stoneybrook Day, Sharry. We're supposed to be best friends. Forever."  
>"I'm still your best friend, Marjorie. Just because I go to Stoneybrook High now doesn't mean that's changed."<br>"But you want to date that-eugh. I don't know how you could stand the thought of parading him around society functions!"  
>"I don't care about any of that. I love Richie. You won't even give him a chance."<p>

Sharon Porter was not a snob.

"Why should I?"  
>"Because I am your best friend, Marjorie."<br>"But he's a Spier! His mother is the town drunk!"  
>"His mother is ill, Marjorie! You wouldn't know about that though, would you?"<br>"Ill, drunk, it's all the same. You are dating the mailman's son."

However, Marjorie Brewer was a snob, and was trying the very last bit of Sharon's patience.

"So what? I don't care. And neither should you."

Sharon Porter flounced away from her best friend, not even looking back.

***

There was nothing she hated more than snobs.

She loved Richie, really, truly loved him, and nobody could see that. Not her parents, not her grandparents, not any of her friends, even the ones that went to Stoneybrook High School and not Stoneybrook Day School, no one. Her parents were talking about sending her away,

She hated it.

Honestly it wasn't like she was pregnant or anything.

She knew Richie was finishing up his shift at Bellairs, so she walked through downtown Stoneybrook to the department store, trying not to cry. She just wanted to be with him. To have him hold her close and tell her everything was going to be okay, that her parents would come around, that applying to college in hot disgusting California wouldn't be that bad, in only the way he knew how. She felt like a little kid.

Her father had told her she was being a baby about this, but she didn't care.

Richie wasn't interested in their money, unlike all of the guys her parents and Marjorie wanted to date. (Nor was he Watson Brewer, who was a very sweet guy but really not her type at all.) He loved her for who she was-the real Sharon, not the fake act she put on at home or at Marjorie's precious "society events".

She sat on the bench in front of the store, smoking a cigarette while she waited. Her mother, dear, dear, dear Rita, had implied she was gaining weight. Honestly, just because she actually ate now and again because she was happy? Or, more likely, a bit depressed? Perhaps she shouldn't have hidden all that candy in her room like Miyoshi and her older sister Rioko did, but she'd had to learn something from Rioko's math tutoring sessions, and math certainly hadn't been it.

So, she sulked. She couldn't believe her stupid friends from Stoneybrook Day cared so much about bullshit appearances. Richie loved her. And she loved him. Wasn't that enough?

She chewed on her varnish covered nails, out of nervousness.

This wasn't going to be a happy date, after all. They were going to the library and he was going to help her with her college applications, none of which were to places in Connecticut, none of which were near him.

She started to cry, and Sharon Porter never cried.

She didn't want to go to school without any of her friends, she couldn't handle it. As it was she was so distracted during every class it was through some near-divine miracle that she was passing them all, even though she spent two periods a day in the Resource Room, where she'd met Miyoshi, who also had trouble in school. Her parents thought that they were on drugs, conveniently forgetting that she'd always had trouble in school, even at easy-as-pie Stoneybrook Academy.

She wasn't smart, like her cousin Ed, who lived off in Chicago, with his father, while his mother, Tabitha, lived next door to the Brewers, and had become most eccentric since their divorce.

Rita and Charles didn't like to visit her, but Sharon sometimes did, and Tabitha liked Richie, which made her very happy.

She cried into her sweater sleeve because she knew that this was the beginning of the end. She knew that once she went away to college she'd be expected to forget him, and she knew that it wasn't fair to expect him to wait around for her, though she didn't want to admit that out loud. She cried loud, noisy, tears, not caring that she was ruining the cashmere she'd used to love. Things like that didn't matter anymore.

"Hey, look, it's Marjorie's public school friend! Too good for us at the Day School, Sharry?"  
>"Leave me alone!"<br>"Aw, why, so you can cry your little eyes out like a baby?"  
>"Shut up, Kathy! Why don't you go hang 'round Ted like a lost little puppy? Maybe one day he'll give you the time of day!"<br>"At least I know where I belong! Not hanging around with people below my stature, like you!"  
>"What's that supposed to mean?"<br>"What do you think?"

Kathy McGuire turned on her heels, the group of giggling SDSers she'd used to be friends with at her feet, and they all flounced away. She, in a most unbecoming display of immaturity, stuck her tongue out at them.

"Shar? Are you okay?"

She smiled at Richie (the only one whom she liked to call her by a nickname) her tear-stained cheeks and bloodshot eyes betraying her.

"Sorry, Richie, I'm just a bit upset. That's all."  
>"You want to get an ice cream first, or something?"<br>"That would be nice."

He wasn't as poor as her friends and family made out, and it made her so mad that they judged him just because his mother acted a bit weird and because his father delivered the mail. She had half a mind to speak to Mr. Spier about stopping delivery of her father's Playboys, just to spite him, but she didn't want to get him in trouble.

They walked to the ice cream parlor, Richie carrying her bag and holding her hand, and they sat in a booth near the front. Normally they sat closer to the back, but she'd given up caring about what her supposed friends thought about their relationship. Or her parents.

She lit a cigarette, offering one to him, and he took it, lighting his with an old book of matches.

She ordered a shake, while he ordered an ice cream sundae, and she took a drag of her cigarette.

"Richie, I don't want to go."  
>"I know, Shar. I know."<br>"I won't-I can't, Richie."  
>"You can, Shar. You're smart, I know you are. Even though you and Miyoshi spend all your time in the Resource Room sneaking candy and chips instead of studying."<p>

He was joking, and she managed a giggle.

"I don't want to go to California. People are weird out there. They're hippies!"  
>"Shar, you don't like when people judge me, do you?"<br>"No, Richie, but there's nothing wrong with you!"  
>"But you didn't know that when we were freshman, did you? When we were assigned the English project?"<br>"No, but Richie, you were different."  
>"It's the same basic principle, though, Shar. You shouldn't pre-judge them."<p>

She sighed, knowing he was telling the truth.

If Sharon Porter was going to claim to not be a snob, she'd have to act like it.

***

Sharon burst into tears when she saw Mr. Spier deliver the day's mail, knowing that it contained another awful acceptance letter to another awful school in California, where her parents were insisting she go. Even Marjorie's parents were letting her go to Stoneybrook Community College, and she'd gone to Stoneybrook Day, and it just wasn't fair! (There were, of course, rumors that the Brewers had had to donate a fair sum of money to the college to gain her admittance, which wasn't really surprising to her, but she daren't say it out loud.) Even Kathy had gotten into some college in New York City, where she'd always wanted to go, though she was only attending there because Ted Kilbourne was a student in their business school. Her Richie had been accepted to Stoneybrook University, on a full scholarship, and she'd been so proud of him. It had been his dream to go to college.

He wanted to be a lawyer, like Charles was. (She had been referring to her parents as Rita and Charles since they'd announced over Christmas break that they were forcing her to pick whichever school in stupid dumb California accepted her. She'd gone up to her room, screamed into her pillow, and devoured three chunky bars with the sound of the Beatles "Please Please Me" (not even caring that it had once been her mother's record) drowning the hidden activity out.) She was so proud of him.

She wished more than anything that she could be as dumb as Marjorie, because at least then she wouldn't have to leave.

She smiles at Mr. Spier as she collects the mail, wincing as she reads the return address label on the biggest envelope.

UCLA.

***

Rita and Charles agreed to let Richie drive her to the airport. They've already mailed all of her belongings to California, and she hasn't been speaking to them since some point in June, so it's of no loss to any of them. They think that they've won.

They think that this will be the last time she and Richie see each other, but Sharon knows it won't be. Sharon knows that she'll still see him on visits home, and that they'll write, and that their breakup (which she knows will be inevitable) won't be the end of their friendship, despite what her parents hope.

Richie takes the slow way to the airport.

She almost cries.

She would cry except she's been crying since she figured out that she would have to go to UCLA (which was the least offensive of schools to Sharon 'Young Republican' Porter), and she doesn't have any tears left. She wishes that she could change the facts, the cold, hard facts, but she can't.

Shar'n'Richie are, for all intents and purposes, over.

Her parents, her fucking fake friends Marjorie and Kathy, the people at the country club, they got what they wanted.

She's to be out in California, land of the palm trees and sunshine.

And he's to be here, in Stoneybrook, the only place she'll ever love.

They kiss goodbye at the airport, and he whispers in her ear.

"You are not a snob, Shar. I'll always love you."  
>"Love you too, Richie."<p>

She writes him a letter on the plane, promising to never let him go.

Sharon Porter was once a snob, but she will never ever be one again.


	2. A Chance Encounter

**TITLE/PROMPT:** What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?/Night

**AUTHOR: **mkrobinson

**RATING:** PG-13

**WORDS: **1467

**TABLE: **.#cutid1

**SUMMARY:** Sharon and Richard find solace at the same bar.

**WARNINGS: **Richard is drunk after Alma's death

**NOTES: **This is in the same universe as all of my previous stories, and is a prequel to "For a Second Time"

"Richie, what are you doing? Are you drinking? Are you drunk?"

"I shoulda married you, Shar! You wouldn't have died an' left me!"

"Richie, what are you talking about? What's going on? Why are you here?"

"You gotta ciggie, Shar?"

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Richie, what on earth is the matter? What do you mean, you should have married me? What do you mean, I wouldn't have died? What do you mean, I wouldn't have left you? Where's Alma, Richie?"

"I told you! She's dead, Shar! She's dead and Mary Anne's in Iowa with Verna an' Bill an' I'm all alone!"

"Have you been drinking?"

"A lil. I'm here wif Patrick!"

Oh dear, Sharon Schafer thought, peeling her ex-boyfriend off of her, tempted to smack some sense into him. Richie, the Richie she knew, wasn't a drinker. He wouldn't be here, at this sports bar, at this time of night. He'd be at home, with his wife and daughter, across the street from Miyoshi's older sister's house. Not out drinking with some guy named Patrick.

"Richie, what's the matter?"

"Everything, Shar! Everything! Do you have a ciggie?"

"Of course, Richie. Come on. Let's go outside. I think the fresh air might do you some good."

"You wanna go outside?"

"Yes, Richie."

"What about your husband?"

"Jack is at my parents house. I'm here alone."

"But you're bea-bea-pretty!"

"Yes, and isn't it nice of you to notice?"

"Uh-huh!"

She sighed, linking her arm with his, and she lead him out of the bar, making him sit on a bench with her.

"Okay, I'll give you a cigarette, and you tell me why on earth you're acting like this."

"Okay, Shar! I missed you!"

"I missed you too, Richie. I missed you too. You weren't at the party, today. At SHS."

"I couldn't! Shar, she's dead, Shar! She's gone!"

"Oh, Richie, who? Your mother?"

"Not my ma, Shar, my Alma!"

She nearly dropped her lit cigarette in her lap in shock.

"Your wife?"

"Yeah, Shar, my wife."

"What happened, Richie?"

She shoved his cigarette in his mouth, hoping the fresh air and nicotine would help sober him up. She wanted to kill that Patrick person for letting him get this way! Honestly, what if she'd hadn't had that little tiff with her mother and hadn't needed a drink to relax? Would poor Richie have fainted? Been forgotten at the bar?

"She's dead, Shar. She's dead!"

"What happened?"

She's never seen him like this, ever, and it scares her.

"Richie? What happened?"

"She was sick, an' they didn't catch it in time, an' she died!"

"Oh, Richie, I'm sorry. So sorry."

"I miss her, Shar!"

"I know you do. I know. Smoke your cigarette, and then we'll go inside and have a couple drinks, okay?"

"Uh-huh!"

"I thought you'd like that."

"I missed you!"

"I missed you too, Richie."

She had missed him, but somehow she hadn't envisioned their reconnection being...like this. At all.

"You did?"

"Of course I did, silly! You're my friend, aren't you?"

"You didn't come."

"Oh, Richie, I would have had I known. I promise I would have."

"That's not what Rita an' Charles said! They came an' said you were happy in Jack with California!"

She was going to murder her parents.

Poor Richie's wife had died, for heaven's sake, and they had actually told him that she didn't want to see him? That was rude, and uncalled for, even for them!

She finished her cigarette and helped him up, flicking them both into a nearby ashtray.

"Well hello there, hot mama!"

"Excuse me?"

"Hey, I'm Patrick Thomas. What's a hot woman like you doing with Richard?"

"I'm his friend. And you're married."

"How do you know?"

"You have your wedding ring on, you jackass."

Sharon shot Richie's ever so charming friend a rather pointed glare.

"I'm just havin' a little fun! It's New Year's Eve!"

"You should be with your wife. Jerk."

"Why am I a jerk?"

"Because you a) abandoned poor Richie to chase tail, b) abandoned your wife on New Year's Eve, c) hit on a married woman-"

"Hey, you're not with your husband!"

"Jack understands. Why don't you go hit on those girls from the university?"

Patrick scoots off in their direction before she can even point out that she was being sarcastic. She sips her beer, smiling at Richie when he comes back from the bathroom.

"I've ordered us something to eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"Richie, come on! You have to eat."

"No I don't."

"Don't you want to get your Mary Anne back?"

He nods, tears dripping down his face, smudging his glasses.

"Well, I think a good meal would be a start."

"Okay, Shar."

"You know, someday Mary Anne and Dawnie will be friends. I just know it."

"Rita an' Charles won't like that."

"Rita and Charles can go screw!"

"Shar! They're your parents!"

"I don't care, Richie. I promise that they'll be friends. Jack says we might move back to Stoneybrook."

She knows he wasn't being serious, but she wishes he was, and it makes her companion smile anyways.

"I hope you do, Shar."

"Me too, Richie. Me too."

"I really missed you, Shar. And here you are. It's like you're an angel."

"Oh, Richie..."

"What?"

They eat in mostly silence, though when Richie feels up to it he tells her tidbits about Alma, and she smiles and nods, not knowing how to respond. What does one say when one's former boyfriend's wife has died? It's really not something she knows how to deal with, but she's doing her best, given the circumstances.

The meal does nothing to sober him up, and she sighs to herself, knowing she'll be the one to take him home, to his house full of memories. She can't bring herself to let him go home with that disgusting jerk.

She can't.

"Come on, Richie. Let me take you home."

"Are you feeling any better, Richie?"

The moment they arrived at his house, Richie had thrown up all over the kitchen counter. She'd wordlessly cleaned it up, settling him on the couch with a trash can within reach.

"A lil, Shar. I gotta headache!"

"You're drunk, Richie. We both are."

"I missed you, Shar! I wish Alma was here!"

"Me too, Richie."

She meant it, too, not the least because then he wouldn't be such a mess.

"Thanks for taking me out, Shar!"

"...I suppose you're welcome."

She's writing an angry letter to Patrick Thomas's wife, none to thrilled about her husband's behavior, but she doesn't let Richie know that. It's better for him to think they had a night out together on purpose, rather than by chance.

She's glad she stopped by the grocery store on the way to his house, as there is little food in the kitchen. She's already assembled a casserole, knowing he'll need some real food after he gets a good night's sleep.

She'll call Rioko in the morning and let her know that Richie needs a friend, and that Patrick should not be it.

She'd be it herself were there not an entire continent between them.

She lets out a sigh.

How did things get so hard? They'd fallen in love, fallen out of love, fallen in love with Jack and Alma respectively, gotten married, had babies, and now she was still married and he was a widower? She'd been upset over her mother's pointed comments about her clothes that evening, while he'd been mourning his wife.

"Shar, it's almost midnight."

"I know, Richie."

"Will you kiss me? Just like old times?"

She shrugs.

"Sure, Richie. Of course I will."

The grandfather clock strikes midnight, and their lips meet in a somewhat more than friendly kiss. They both smile.

"Do you think I'll be okay, Shar?"

She nods.

"I know you will be."

The next morning, she is back at her parents' house, eating breakfast with Jack and Dawnie, and Richie is woken to a freshly made pot of coffee, the two packs of cigarettes she'd had in her purse, a fresh bottle of asprin, and a note with her address and phone number.

She calls Rioko, who lets out some curses she'd never thought she'd hear from Miyoshi's older sister, and who agrees to send her mother over with some special tea and a standing invitation to dinner.

Elizabeth Thomas doesn't receive the note that she slipped into the mail slot because Charlie Thomas has hidden it from her, already protecting her at an early age from his father's behavior. Patrick never invites Richie out to go drinking again.

Three months later she gets a note from Mrs. Yamamoto, telling her that Mary Anne will be back in June.

She smiles.

She'd promised Richie he'd be okay.


	3. For A Second Time

**TITLE/PROMPT:** For A Second Time/95 Reunion  
><strong>AUTHOR:<strong> mkrobinson/bloodredcherries  
><strong>RATING:<strong> PG-13 (mentions of drinking, smoking, and some curses)  
><strong>WORDS:<strong> 2278  
><strong>TABLE:<strong>.#cutid1  
><strong>SUMMARY:<strong> Back in Stoneybrook for a visit, Sharon sees Richard for the second time since her move to California.  
><strong>WARNINGS:<strong> Sharon smokes, and there is some foul language  
><strong>NOTES:<strong> This takes place pre-canon, when Dawn is seven. This will sort of alter canon a bit as she and Richard keep in touch after the meeting but will not alter it very much. This will be part of a series of one shots.

Sharon Schafer did not have a complicated life.

She grew up in Stoneybrook, Connecticut, a small town about a half an hour outside of Stanford, where she'd lived off of McLelland Road, from the moment she was born to the day she went off to UCLA, at her parents' insistence. She lives in Palo City, California, a small suburb of Anaheim, with her husband, Jack, and their two children.

She had her friends from Stoneybrook. She has her friends in Palo.

For the most part, they are separate. It's easier that way.

Her Stoneybrook friends know about the Stoneybrook her: the naïve, conservative, head cheerleader who had purportedly shamed her parents and their society friends by first choosing to go to Stoneybrook High School instead of Stoneybrook Day School and then daring to fall in love with Richard Spier, who'd done nothing wrong but be the son of a mailman who was a bit poor.

Her Palo City friends know about the Palo City her: the health freak, who is not as crunchy-granola as Betsy Winslow and is married to Jack Schafer, who had gone to UCLA and who loved being a "Californian Girl". They are mostly Jack's friends, but she doesn't mind.

The truth is? She hates California. She loves Jack, she really does, but she hates California.

She visits Stoneybrook as much as she can, hoping one day she'll get to move back.

Sharon brings Jack back to Stoneybrook with her nearly every time.

He constantly complains about the cold, the trees, the lack of surfing.

They stay in her parents' house, in the guest room, the kids in the room down the hall, and it's nice.

She misses it here in Connecticut, though she'd never admit it. Jack loves California, Palo City, the whole deal, and merely tolerates the visits to her hometown as a favor to her. Dawn and Jeff are the same.

It's not that Sharon has doubts about her marriage-she does love Jack, after all-but there is something. Something that she really doesn't want to think about.

During their first visits to Stoneybrook, Jack went places with her. He frequented her old haunts, humored her when she tried to see old friends, even though none of them were really around anymore, but the last few trips he'd been in their room, doing work all the time, and she'd barely seen him for meals. Dawnie was busy doing her school assignments, but that was understandable.

So, despite the fact that it was cold out, and her mother certainly wouldn't have approved, considering she was a married woman with kids, she found herself walking to Bradford Court, where her Richie lived.

She hadn't seen him in years, not since the time she'd run into him at a rather sleazy bar out of town and she'd listened to him talk to her about how his wife had died and how his daughter had been sent to live with her grandparents in Iowa and how he missed her so much and she'd managed to drive him home and sober him up, praying he'd forget about the events when he woke up with a hangover and actual food in the kitchen.

They hadn't kept in touch. What could they talk about? The fact that his wife was dead and his daughter lived in Iowa and her husband was alive and her children lived with her? Besides, she just knew that Jack would have had a problem with her staying in touch with Richie.

So she walked to Bradford Court, somewhat relieved that Richie was having coffee with a young woman and actually smiling, and she fished in her coat pocket for her lighter and cigarettes. Yes, she, Sharon Schafer, so-called "health nut", liked to smoke. It relaxed her.

What didn't relax her-as she took a drag of the somewhat forbidden cigarette-was getting hit by a wet, frozen, snowball. She let out an undignified shriek, attempting to brush the snow out of her only jacket and her hair.

_Great. She was going to develop pneumonia because she accidentally walked in the middle of a snowball fight. No wonder Jack stayed indoors. At least he wouldn't get sick!_

The woman that Richie had been talking to ran down from his porch, and he himself soon followed, a tea towel in his hands.

Wonderful. She was going to meet his new wife, or girlfriend, or whomever she was, with half a smoked cigarette in her hand.

"I am so sorry, I don't think Charlie meant to hit you with the snowball, he was probably throwing it at the Kishis' girl, or something. I'm Edie, by the way. Edie Thomas."

She blinked.

"Sharon Schafer. It's alright, I guess. I have kids too."

The fact that Dawn and Jeff were petrified of the snow went without saying.

"Sharon?"  
>"Richie?"<p>

Damn it, she hadn't meant to do that. Though she had to admit it was rather a relief to see that Richie was at least doing well, considering how he'd been the last time they'd seen each other.

"What are you doing here? Are you back for good?"

She laughed. The idea of Jack and the kids moving to Stoneybrook full time was ridiculous.

"Just for a visit, Richie. I thought I'd see how you were. It's been awhile, hasn't it?"  
>"You came back. You always have."<p>

He remembered?

"How is your daughter, Richie?"  
>"Mary Anne? She's fine. She's building a snowman with Kristy and Claudia."<p>

She deduced that Claudia was the Kishis' daughter and Kristy belonged to Edie, but she didn't quite know how to respond. What could she say? She hadn't been expecting to see him, after all.

"I have a daughter too. Her name is Dawn. She's going to be seven."  
>"So's Mary Anne."<br>"I have a son, too, Richie. He's four. His name's Jeff."

This wasn't so bad, she supposed. She was talking to Richie again, and it wasn't too terribly awkward.

"I heard you got married?"  
>"Yes. To Jack. How-"<br>"You told me. That night. You told me that you knew that I would get Mary Anne back, you told me that things would be okay, you helped me realize that they would be, Sharon. I didn't know what I was going to do-Patrick, he's Edie's husband-he'd left me at the bar to chase after some sports star, or something, and then, there you were."

He broke off, abruptly, and she realized that there was a small girl tugging at his pant leg, looking at her warily.

"Daddy, you said I wouldn't have to have a sitter today!"  
>"Mary Anne, this is my friend-"<p>

She stepped in.

"Hi, Mary Anne, I'm Miss Sharon. I went to SHS with your dad. Don't worry, I'm not going to be your babysitter."  
>"Hi. It's nice to meet you. May I go back to Kristy and Claudia, Dad?"<p>

Richie nodded, and she gave him a hug before running back to her friends.

It was a shame he was still Richie Spier and her parents were still Rita and Charles Porter and it was also a shame that Mary Anne lived in Connecticut and Dawn lived in California because she suspected that they could be friends.

Sharon removed her sopping wet hat and shoved it into her pocket, putting her lighter and cigarettes in the other.

"I didn't know you remembered much of that, Richie. You were a bit tipsy."

That was an understatement. Richie had been completely shattered, not that she blamed him. And how could his friend Patrick just abandon him? She sighed. She was getting all worked up over nothing.

"I wouldn't forget you, Shar."  
>"Me either, Richie."<p>

The children were continuing their snowball fights and snowman building, and she vaguely noticed it was getting later, but she didn't want to know the time. She wanted to stay with Richie for a bit, awkward though it was, and reconnect. It wasn't like Jack or Dawn really needed her back, or even Jeff, as her father had announced he was taking them to the movies at Washington Mall, with her mother. She'd been invited, but she didn't want to go.

"Things have gotten better."  
>"That's wonderful, Richie. I'm glad to hear that."<br>"I'm on track to make junior partner at my law firm, soon. I'm in corporate law."  
>"Good for you. You always wanted to become a lawyer."<br>"Mary Anne moved back in with me when she was almost two. Edie and Rioko have been a huge help. Rioko is Claudia's mother."  
>"I'm glad, Richie."<p>

She really was.

"Do you want to come in? For a coffee, or something? I know you should be heading back soon, but-"  
>"Sure, Richie."<br>"Come in, then."

She followed him into the house, noticing that while there were traces of what could only be described of as a shrine to his late wife, at the very least they had lessened a bit. The years had been good to him. Time had healed at least some of his wounds, though she suspected not all of them. He poured her a mug of coffee, stirring in the cream and sugar that she'd taken back when they were dating, and she sipped it. Richie didn't need to know that she wasn't a cream and sugar girl anymore. His coffee was still black.

"Richie, I am sorry about your wife. And about not keeping in touch."  
>"Did you know your parents went to her funeral?"<br>"What?"  
>"They did. They took me aside and apologized to me and said that you couldn't make it because of Dawn, I guess, but that they'd gone for you."<br>"They did?"  
>"Yes. They suggested I let Mary Anne live with Verna and Bill for awhile. I think that I needed that more than I knew. I was in a real dark place, Shar."<br>"I know, Richie. I don't know how hard it must have been for you. But I'm glad you're doing okay."

She really was. She sipped her coffee slowly, catching a glimpse of the clock, knowing she'd have to leave soon, but not wanting to.

She'd missed him.

So much.

But she loved Jack.

She really needed a cigarette.

Fuck. This was hard.

"How are you?"  
>"Well, I'm alright. I'm still in California, with Jack and the kids, and it's okay, I guess. It's different than here. Here I belonged. Out there..."<br>"What?"  
>"Well, it's just different. I don't know, Richie. I am happy with Jack, and he likes it out there, so I guess it's alright. Sometimes I just wonder, that's all."<p>

They both sip their coffees. She sighs.

"It's normal to wonder."  
>"I know."<br>"Who knows, maybe you will come back some day."  
>"Maybe."<p>

Jack would be thrilled if they never came back to Stoneybrook again, but that doesn't really matter.

"When are you leaving?"  
>"Tomorrow. Afternoon."<br>"I thought perhaps the girls could meet, but I suppose that wouldn't work."  
>"I'm sorry."<p>

She really was. She could just picture the look on her mother's face if she saw Richie now. She smiled, wanting to smirk.

"You're imaging your parents' reaction to seeing me again, aren't you?"

He smiled at her.

"Maybe. Richie?"

She really had to leave.

"You have to get back, don't you?"  
>"I'm so sorry. It's just that it's nearly dinner time and-"<br>"I understand."

She finished the rest of her coffee, wishing she could promise him a second time, or even the possibility of a friendship, but she didn't know.

It was easier to keep things separate, after all.

But, he was Richie.

"Do you think, if you're ever in California, you might look me up?"  
>"Of course!"<br>"Thanks, Richie. I'm gonna miss you."

Shit, she was crying, nearly sobbing. This was why she'd only seen him the one time since they'd broken up!

"Shar? Are you okay?"

He gave her a hug-a friendly hug-and he let her cry it out, likely knowing how embarrassed she was. She drew a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Richie. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."  
>"You can call me. Any time. I promise."<p>

He released her, and she smiled at him.

"Okay. Thanks, Richie."

He gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek, and she gave him one in return.

"You're welcome. Thank you."

He walked her to the door-thankfully those children had stopped their snowball fight-and she knew he was watching her walk away until she was out of sight. She smiled, lighting another cigarette.

She'll send Richie a Christmas card every year, like she does her other Stoneybrook friends.

He'll like that.

Maybe he'll even send her one.

And maybe someday they'll see each other again.

She'd like that.

Sharon returns home and dodges her parents' queries by claiming she'd been at Marjorie Brewer's brother's house, cooing over his new son, and because they approve of those people, they stay quiet. She doesn't dare mention her coffee with Richie to anyone, not even Dawnie, who wants to know why she looks so happy, and eventually the matter is dropped.

They leave Stoneybrook the next day.

She wishes Dawn could have met Mary Anne.

_Someday_, she thinks.

She goes back to her normal Californian life, trying to forget all about her trip to Stoneybrook, which is hard when Betsy demands to know all the details about it, because they are supposedly best friends, and she swears her to secrecy and tells her all about Richie one night over tie-dye (which she's starting to enjoy) and booze and cigarettes and pot. Jack isn't in attendance, as usual.

The one Californian she likes and he hates.

That Christmas, she sends Richie a Christmas card.

...three weeks later he sends one back.


	4. It All Changes Everything

TITLE/PROMPT: It. All. Changes. Everything./Adult  
>AUTHOR: mkrobinson<br>RATING: PG-13  
>WORDS: 4140<br>TABLE: .#cutid1  
>SUMMARY: Change, like her children moving back to Palo City, was never easy for Sharon to handle. How is she supposed to deal with her house burning down, Karen's belief that she wants to play Lovely Ladies with her, and her best friend from California slowly dying, at once? Scenes from the aftermath of The Fire At Mary Anne's House from Sharon's point of view.<br>WARNINGS: None really.  
>NOTES: This is in the same universe as my prompts for "Upset" "Reunion", "Snob", and "Situation". Also I made it so The Fire At Mary Anne's House was the last book that the girls were in 8th grade for, meaning that they enter ninth grade after the summer, also I spread out the events in CD so that Gracie was born in fall of freshman year and Mrs. Winslow died in fall of freshman year.<p>

Sharon Spier was having an awful nightmare.

"I want to play Lovely Ladies!"  
>"Karen, calm down, Mrs. Spier is still asleep."<br>"But she said she would play Lovely Ladies with me this morning!"  
>"Will you be quiet? Their house just burned down, why would she want to play Lovely Ladies with you?"<br>"Because she and Mary Anne promised, Kristy!"  
>"Be quiet!"<br>"Do not tell me what to do!"  
>"I just want you to-go watch TV."<br>"But I want to play Lovely Ladies! I have been waiting all morning!"  
>"But why would you want to wake Mrs. Spier up when you know that her house just burned down?"<br>"Because I want to play Lovely Ladies with her! Elizabeth said that there were lots of lovely clothes being donated-"  
>"Karen Brewer! You know that those clothes aren't for dress up!"<br>"They are so!"

Sharon Spier thought she was having a horrible nightmare, one where Kristy and Karen were arguing about her playing some stupid sounding game, and she rolled over in bed, trying to stay asleep. She figured that Richie had already gone to work, and that she was sleeping in, just like Mary Anne, because it was a nice summer day.

"They are not! Karen, those are for Mary Anne's family! Remember this morning?"  
>"I woke up and I was the only person besides Emily Michelle in the house! I got to be a junior baby sitter!"<br>"You did not! Charlie and Sam were home!"  
>"But they were sleeping and Emily Michelle and I were not! We were watching television!"<br>"Because you woke her up!"

She covered her head with a pillow, wanting to make the noise stop.

She woke up enough to realize that covering her head did make the noise stop, and she briefly wondered why, before drifting back off to sleep. She was exhausted, and she noticed her hair smelled vaguely of smoke, which was odd since she hadn't smoked a cigarette in weeks, but she snuggled under the blankets and attempted to remain sleeping.

Said peaceful sleep was interrupted by a most undignified shouting outside of her bedroom door.

This was, much to her annoyance, courtesy of Marjorie's older brother, Watson Brewer.

"KAREN MARGARET BREWER AND KRISTEN AMANDA THOMAS, WHAT ARE THE TWO OF YOU ARGUING ABOUT?"  
>"Daddy, Mrs. Spier and Mary Anne promised to play Lovely Ladies with me this morning when they arrived for their sleepover and Kristy said I cannot wake them!"<p>

Sleepover? At Watson Brewer's house? Agreeing to play Lovely Ladies? Mary Anne agreeing to play Lovely Ladies? What had happened?

"Sharon?"

She sat upright, realizing that they were in one of the Brewers' guest rooms, and that poor Mary Anne was on the floor on an air mattress.

"Yes, honey?"  
>"Did it really happen? The fire?"<br>"Fire?"

Fire? Fire? Fire? There had been a fire?

"Yes, Sharon, the fire. I think it must have, because your hair is all covered in soot and I don't think we'd be in Kristy's guest room if it hadn't."

Sharon groaned. She had a headache.

"I hear Mary Anne, Daddy!"

Dear Christ, Karen Brewer was obnoxious. She rubbed her temple.

"I'll go find out what's going on, okay, honey?"  
>"Uh-huh."<p>

She got up and gave her a hug, kissing her on the cheek, noticing that she was wearing pajamas that obviously belonged to Kristy-her stepdaughter would never own anything with a sports logo on it. She herself was wearing something that had come from Elizabeth's closet. She sighed, padding to the door and pulling it open.

"Hi Mrs. Spier!"

Perhaps Karen could be useful.

"Karen, I will play Lovely Ladies with you later-"  
>"You will? Great! Daddy said I was not to bother you about playing Lovely Ladies, so I was not going to ask."<p>

Dammit.

"Karen, sweetie, do you know what happened last night?"  
>"Last night? Daddy and Elizabeth took me, Hannie, and Nancy to the movies and afterward we went to the ice cream parlor and got identical ice cream sundaes and after that we brought Nancy home she lives near the little house and after that we brought Hannie home she lives across the street next to the Kilbournes and after that we came home and I made Andrew and David Michael play Let's All Come In with me and then after that Daddy and Elizabeth made Kristy read me a bedtime story because Morbidda Destiny came over to discuss gardening she is our neighbor and she is a real live witch who can cast spells and gave me Crystal Light the Second who is my goldfish and then after that I went to bed and-"<br>"Karen, why are we here?"  
>"Oh! You are here because there was a big fire in your house this morning. Stacey McGill called to tell Kristy and Daddy and Elizabeth and I answered the phone because I was getting a drink of water when it rang. She was crying. So I thought that someone had died and I woke Sam up because Stacey used to be his girlfriend and I thought he would be the best person to calm her down but he went and woke up Daddy and Elizabeth! They did not realize that I was still awake and they woke up Kristy and told her about the fire and she cried. And then I snuck Emily Michelle downstairs and we watched some television while all of the adults including Nannie were gone! It was great fun! And then you and Mary Anne and Mr. Spier all came in and Mary Anne was crying and I wanted to make her feel better so I suggested a game of Lovely Ladies because that made me feel better when Amanda Delaney was moving away and you and Mr. Spier said that maybe we could play together in the morning!"<br>"Thank you, Karen. You were a great help."  
>"You are welcome, Mrs. Spier! Mr. Spier is with your insurance people in Daddy's study! He wanted to let you rest!"<br>"Thank you, Karen."  
>"May I see Mary Anne? I made her a card!"<br>"Of course."

Sharon really needed to take her medication-she couldn't.

She couldn't take her medication because it was in the house.

Which had caught on fire.

And evidently burned to the ground.

She wanted to cry.

If Andrew Brewer hadn't been standing in front of her, smiling shyly, holding Tigger, she likely would have.

"I think Mary Anne would like to see Tigger, Andrew. I'm going to get a cup of coffee."

She needed more than a cup of coffee, but that would do for now.

An abashed Kristy was sitting at the table with Watson, and she smiled slightly at them.

"I'm sorry for waking you, Mrs. Spier."  
>"It's fine. You can call me Sharon, by the way."<p>

Kristy looked surprised, though she didn't know if that was because she'd liberally scooped sugar into her coffee or because of the permission to use her first name, and she smiled at her. She sat at the table, sipping her coffee, trying to make sense of all that had happened.

1) Her house had burned down, and they were staying with Marjorie's brother.  
>2) Richie was taking care of the insurance, which was good, as she was not up to doing that on a few hours sleep and without her Dexedrine, which she needed to somehow obtain without her prescription or license.<br>3) She really needed to shower, because smelling like this was disgusting, even to her, and she smoked cigarettes and used to burn incense with Betsy Winslow.  
>4) Her house had burned down, and they were staying with Marjorie's most infuriating niece.<br>5) She had to play Lovely stupid Ladies!

She suspected that she was in shock of some kind.

Watson spoke, sounding kind, and she stared blankly at him.

"Sharry, I attempted to call your parents-"  
>"They're in Aruba."<br>"Did you want me to tell Tabitha?"  
>"You can, if you want."<p>

She hadn't even objected to being called Sharry, that was how bad she felt.

"Do you need anything?"  
>"I have to call Jeff."<p>

She doesn't want to, but she knows it needs to be done, and perhaps Jack still has that bottle of medication she left at the house when she stayed when Jeff had his appendix taken out. She hopes so. He was always complaining about how scatterbrained she was, and for once it was somewhat useful.

"Would you like me to explain to your ex-"  
>"No, I can do it. Thanks, though."<br>"You're welcome."

He hands her the telephone and she dials her old old number, unsure of what to say. What if Carol answers? She can make small talk about the baby, but for how long?

"Hello, Schafer-Olson residence, Sunny Winslow speaking!"

Shit. Sunny. She'd almost rather Carol.

"Hi, Sunny, how are you? It's Sharon. How's your mom?"

Betsy has cancer, and isn't doing very well.

"She's okay. She's at home right now, maybe you can call her later? I think she'd like that."  
>"Okay, Sunny. Sunny, is Jack home?"<br>"Not right now. Carol wanted ice cream or something like that. He saw me sitting outside and made me come in."

She sighs. She hates to do it, but she has to.

"Can I speak to Carol?"  
>"Sure! Hold on a second!"<p>

Karen wanders in.

"Daddy, who is Mrs. Spier talking to?"  
>"I don't know, princess."<br>"May I say hi to your friend, Mrs. Spier? I can tell her all about the stuff that happened and you can get ready for us to play-"  
>"Why don't you go see if Hannie's up?"<br>"Okay, Daddy!"

She mouths a thank you to him, and he nods.

"Hello, Carol?"  
>"Hi, Sharon. What is it?"<br>"How are you? With the baby, an' all?"

Her husband's new wife was pregnant, and she was so afraid to say the words out loud that she let her talk.

"I've been okay. Sunny said you called to talk to Jack, is everything alright?"  
>"I need to know if he still has my Dexedrine. I left it there when Jeff's appendix burst and I need it because I don't know when I'll be able to get anymore 'cause the house burnt down and I wanted Jack to tell Dawnie and Jeffy and please please don't tell Sunny I don't want her to worry about me with her mom sick an' all and-"<br>"Sharon, it'll be okay. I'm sure we have your Dexedrine here, Jack wouldn't throw it out-"  
>"Thank you!"<p>

She was beginning to remind herself of Karen!

"-do you want Dawn and Jeff to come out?"  
>"I don't know. We're staying with Marjorie's brother and oh you don't know who Marjorie is but he's Dawnie's friend Kristy's stepfather and I don't know what to do and I can't-"<p>

Watson takes the phone from her and starts talking to Carol.

She starts to sob.

Karen and her friend Hannie walk into the room.

So does Mary Anne.

Soon enough, Watson Brewer has arranged for Jeffy and Dawnie to fly out that afternoon.

Elizabeth has led her to the shower, where she stays, scrubbing herself until the smell of soot finally disappears, noticing that the water has turned black.

When she is done with her shower, Richie takes her to bed, where they lay together. She falls asleep, curled up in his arms.

Poor Mary Anne plays Lovely Ladies with Hannie and Karen.

***

She doesn't really remember the next few days, but that's because Doctor Reese decided it would be prudent to prescribe her some tranquilizers, which Richie later tells her is a good thing as she insisted on playing several games of Let's All Come In with Karen and her group of friends, and evidently told him and Mary Anne she wanted to move to Pennsylvania and become an architect.

When the tranquilizers wear off, Jeff remembers his father sent her pills with him, and he pulls them out of his backpack, along with a check and a letter, which she shares with Richie, surprised by Jack's generosity.

Her first day fully processing what happened, Marjorie Brewer (she got married at some point, but Sharon can't be bothered to figure out her new last name) and Kathy Kilbourne come over and insist on taking her, Mary Anne, and Dawn shopping, and for some strange reason she accepts. Maybe it's because Kathy's daughter, Shannon, is friends with Dawnie and Mary Anne, and she doesn't want to seem rude, or maybe it's because shopping, even if it is with Marjorie and Kathy, is an improvement over dealing with the insurance people or trying to call her parents or visiting the remains of the farmhouse, which she has done enough, thank you very much.

"Auntie Marjorie and Mrs. Kilbourne! Play Lovely Ladies with us!"

No, it was definitely because Karen Brewer was giving her a most awful headache.

Mary Anne looked rather relieved as well, as did Dawn. Jeff had escaped to the Pikes, and therefore had had some much needed "Karen free" time.

Had she been as infuriating as a child? She probably had been, but there was just something so grating about Karen Brewer, with her constant desire to play bizarre games and irritate everyone in the house. It wasn't that she wasn't nice-she had thought that a fun game of Lovely Ladies would distract her and Mary Anne from the fire, after all, but she was a bit...hyper. Yes, that was the word.

Kathy was as snobby as she remembered, but at least her prattling on meant that Sharon herself didn't have to talk, though part of her wished she'd gone off with Mary Anne, Dawnie, Shannon, and Tiffany.

Sharon heard all about the Kilbournes' prize winning dog, Astrid, who came from Switzerland, and about how Ted was some sort of lawyer and how Kathy was so glad she'd married him, and about how they were invited to all of the parties at the country club and about how she was so glad Sharon had decided to join them on their shopping trips, forgetting that she'd pretty much had no choice, as she had no clothes, no money, no credit cards, all courtesy of that stupid fire, but she stayed quiet because for some bizarre reason Kathy and Marjorie were buying the three of them a new wardrobe. And at least the people she was with spoke using contractions.

That night, she remembers her promise to Sunny, and calls Palo to talk to Betsy. The conversation is awkward at first, but when Sharon figures out that somehow Sunny and Betsy know about the fire, it becomes less so.

Still, it is basically one of half-truths and platitudes, that neither of them really believe.

She promises to try to come to California one last time, to see Betsy, and Betsy promises that that won't have to be for a couple of years, because she's going to beat the cancer.

They both know this isn't true.

***

She can tell that Betsy is weaker than she lets on, and decides to take advantage of the fact that Watson installed some sort of internet calling system on his computers when his ex-wife moved to Chicago with their son earlier that year, the same thing that Dawn and Sunny tended to use to talk to one another, and she gains permission to use it, getting the slightest bit of privacy because the girls are babysitting and Richie and Jeff have started to move their things into their rental house, next to Rioko Kishi's, and Karen has a bunch of her little friends over, but they are torturing the various pets, possibly due to a lecture from Kristy, Watson, and Elizabeth.

Sunny is online. She sighs, dreading seeing her Californian best friend on the screen. Sunny herself looks rather bizarre, with her piercings and crazily dyed hair, not to mention the clothes, but she herself rebelled a bit against her parents (okay, a lot, in Rita and Charles's minds) so she wisely knows not to comment.

She chokes back a gasp when she sees Betsy for the first time since Jeff's appendix ruptured. She looks, well, awful, though a less appropriate phrase comes to mind.

"Betsy? Are you-"  
>"I told you, they have a more aggressive treatment for me, Sharon. They think they can stop the spread."<br>"Betsy-"  
>"I want to try it. I have to. For Sunny. Did you know she won't have a little brother or sister?"<p>

Oh for heaven's sake, was that what she was really concentrating on while in a hospital bed in her dining room hooked up to oxygen and obviously on some sort of painkillers?

"I'm sorry, Betsy."  
>"Jack and Carol are being so nice to her. Did you know that they're letting her spend the night there while I'm having my treatments done?"<br>"That is nice of Jack and Carol!"  
>"It is. I don't know why everyone is so nervous around me. My doctors were talking to...never mind..."<p>

Betsy had a coughing fit, and she winced, feeling awful for her friend. Even though her house was gone, at least she wasn't dying, at least she wouldn't have to leave a daughter at age fourteen. She twisted her wedding ring on her ring finger, waiting for her friend to regain composure, and quite frankly hoping none of the kids would come in-she knew that she didn't want to have Karen and co barraging her and Betsy with all these questions.

"Is there anything you want me to do, Betsy? Something you want me to send back with Dawnie and Jeffy?"  
>"That's okay...the house doesn't look that bad..."<br>"Oh, this is-you're right."

It was easier to lie to her, and she didn't really want to upset her and make her cough again. She told her all about her relationship with Richie, her plans for the summer, the fact that Mary Anne and Dawnie were looking forward to ninth grade and that Jeffy was looking forward to going into sixth. She told her about Kathy Kilbourne and about her prized purebred Astrid, and she mentioned that she'd met someone who owned a 400 dollar cat (Karen's friend Amanda, who'd come over that morning) and Betsy managed to laugh weakly about that, and she asked about Sunny, who had come into the room to sit with her mother, and she even managed to make Dawnie's best friend smile.

They talked for the better part of the hour (and when she said they, she was doing most of the talking) and she couldn't help noticing that Betsy looked exhausted, but Betsy wouldn't let her go, and she didn't want to either-somehow she doubted their grandiose plans of seeing each other before Betsy went would happen-and so it got to the point where Sharon was reading her a book (one of Karen's, called "The Littlest Witch") while she dozed.

It was awful, but she sort of felt better about her situation after talking to Betsy and Sunny. At least she wasn't dying, like Betsy so obviously was.

Finally, Betsy falls asleep, and she decides she has to go, realizing that a group of Karen's friends being quiet and well behaved likely means nothing good.

Much to her surprise, the group of girls (even Hannie and Amanda, whom Watson warned her didn't get along) were quietly making some sort of art project. She breathes a sigh of relief.

Karen notices her.

"Daddy told us to not bother you because you were talking to your friend who is very sick and Hannie and Amanda thought we should make her cards and Melody, Nancy, Maria, and I agreed! Maria says that you used to be friends with her mother until you went to SHS because you went to Stoneybrook Academy together! Did you know that Hannie, Nancy, and I all go to SA together? We are in the same class because I skipped a grade! Melody, Maria, and Amanda go to Stoneybrook Day School, even though Amanda's family moved away earlier this year! Will you mail these cards to your friend? Daddy said that she might not know who we were but we thought they would make her feel better!"  
>"Of course I'll mail the cards to Mrs. Winslow. That was very sweet of you girls."<br>"Thank you, Mrs. Spier! Daddy and Elizabeth said that it was important for us to be good while you were staying here because of that awful fire and did you know that Morbidda Destiny was here for you earlier? You were talking to your friend so I was very brave and told her that you would talk to her later-"  
>"Karen? What is Morbidda Destiny's real name? You said she was your neighbor, didn't you?"<p>

Karen nodded, thinking to herself, and she had a feeling her Auntie Tabitha had gotten the slightest bit too eccentric in the time since they'd seen each other. Finally, she responded.

"Mrs. Porter, I think! She is in the gardening club with Mommy's mother!"

Sharon couldn't help bursting out in laughter.

Karen looked nearly offended.

"Honey, she's my aunt."

Karen paled.

"I am sorry, Mrs. Spier! I will never call her Morbidda Destiny again! I did not know she was your aunt!"  
>"It's okay, honey. I think your nickname is funny. And this explains her comments about your active imagination!"<p>

***

Life returns to normal, or at least an approximation thereof, as Richie says. After they salvage what they can from their old house and move into the new, rental one, next door to Rioko, Dawnie and Jeffy go back to California. Sunny called, begging Dawnie to return, and she agreed, simply because she knows Sunny needs her best friend right now, more than she needs her daughter. She begins selling houses again, quite relieved that Kathy Kilbourne is an agent for Coldwell Banker, and not for Re/Max, like she is. She couldn't bear to work with that irritating snob day in and day out.

Betsy loved her cards from Karen and her friends, and even wrote them back, though Sharon recognized it was really Sunny's writing. She keeps that knowledge hidden, knowing that they really don't need to know.

Mary Anne, Kristy, Claudia, and Stacey all start freshman year as SHS, where she met Richie. Abby quit the club, as did Logan, and Mallory and Jessi. Shannon came back as a member when Kristy suddenly adapted a more lenient policy and running structure. Mary Anne breaks up with Logan, and she and Stacey tutor Claudia, who was diagnosed with a learning disability over the summer. High school is good for them.

Jack calls in early fall to tell her that Carol had the baby, and she is quite glad to hear that little Elizabeth Grace is doing well. She is the one that tactfully suggests they call the baby Gracie, at least for now, because she knows that even though it is a rather nice gesture to name the baby after Betsy Winslow, she knows that Sunny will never be able to call the baby Elizabeth, and neither will Dawnie. Much to her surprise, he agrees with her, and suggests that she suggest to Dawn and Sunny a visit over the next summer. That alone tells her that Betsy is dying, that there's no hope of her getting better. Both Jack and Richie comfort her as she cries.

By Thanksgiving, it's Carol calling her to tell her that Betsy is dead, and poor Mary Anne is the one that answers the phone, and finds herself comforting Sunshine Daydream Winslow, even though Sunny knew her mother and Mary Anne didn't. She comes home from work early that day, having done her showings, and finds out the news from her stepdaughter, who gives her a big hug, and tells her that she asked Doctor Reese if they could see her today, instead of the next week. They go to therapy together now, and it helps them both. They all go to Betsy's funeral. Sunny sits between her and Carol and cries the entire time, thanking her for coming all the way from Stoneybrook, and she assures her that she wouldn't have skipped it. They stay with Carol and Jack, and oddly enough it isn't as awkward as it was the last time. It helps that there is a distraught Sunny and Dawn to deal with and a cute baby to cuddle, true, but it's almost nice. Friendly.

Dawn and Jeff stay in California for Christmas. She knows that they have to, and she doesn't blame them. She, Richie, and Mary Anne host Verna, Mary Anne's grandmother, and Rita and Charles, who refuse to even acknowledge the fact that Kathy Kilbourne was more compassionate than they were during the fire.

In the spring they move into the barn, which has been converted into a house, and they start again


	5. Pregnancy, Pizza, and Karen Brewer

**TITLE/PROMPT:** Of Pregnancy, Country Clubs, Pizza, and Karen Brewer/Child  
><strong>AUTHOR:<strong> mkrobinson  
><strong>RATING:<strong> PG-13  
><strong>WORDS: <strong>2100  
><strong>TABLE:<strong> .#cutid1  
><strong>SUMMARY:<strong> A year after the fire, Sharon finds herself pregnant...  
><strong>WARNINGS:<strong> None really.  
><strong>NOTES: <strong>This is in the same universe as "It. All. Changes. Everything.", "California", "A Lesson in Japanese", "Theoretically", and "For A Second Time"; and "It. All. Changes. Everything." does not have to be read before this but this is a continuation of it, however it can be read as a standalone.

A month after school is out, two-and-a-half months after they moved into the renovated barn, Sharon Spier finds herself pregnant. She and Richie were sort of, but not technically, trying, and she is surprised that she gets pregnant the month they start, but is a bit relieved.

It has been nearly twelve years since the last one, after all.

Richie is cautious, but relaxes a bit once they go to her first doctor's appointment and find that everything is fine. She starts to tell people, starting with Dawn, Jeff, and Mary Anne.

Dawn and Jeff are happy for her, though poor Jeff seems a bit grossed out by having a pregnant mother at his age. Dawnie and her keep in touch via email, and she's constantly asking her questions about the pregnancy, and she even suggests that she stop being a vegetarian for the duration.

Sharon is relieved, because since Dawn and Jeff moved out to California again, she's been re-intergrating meat into her diet, pregnant or not pregnant. No, she's not shoveling down disgusting processed lunch meats or hotdogs, not at all, but it wasn't very fair to make poor Richie and Mary Anne eat her tofu delights, and she hadn't quite forgotten the Thomas-Brewers' attempts at making vegetarian meals during their stay after the fire. The meals themselves were fine, it was more Kristy's ever so appetizing comments about flaxseed and tofu and comparing it to roadkill. At every meal.

Every time he sees her, Richie kisses her and tells her that she's beautiful, even when she disagrees.

It makes her blush, and stammer uncontrollably, but it makes her feel so special, and he knows it.

Mary Anne thinks that they're adorable, and she agrees, but she just knows that Jeff would be play gagging if he saw them being all, well, touchy feely.

She doesn't really want to tell her parents, but Mary Anne is of the delusion that they will be thrilled (Sharon of course knows otherwise), and Richie is telling nearly everyone in town, so she knows she has to.

It goes as poorly as she expects.

Mary Anne starts her sophomore year of high school, Richie goes to the courthouse to defend a major client, and Sharon tells her parents that she is pregnant with Richie's child during their lunch at the country club, knowing that Rita and Charles Porter wouldn't dare make a scene in front of all of their fellow society members, and that holds true. Though their eyes are filled with disapproval, Rita simply sips her glass of sherry and Charles sips his scotch, and she allows herself to relax, half-heartedly eating her chef's salad. She thinks back to when it was Jack and her announcing that they were pregnant with Dawnie and Jeffy, and she remembers them being happy, or at least pretending to be. Of course, they liked Jack. He was "respectable".

She sighs, sipping her sparkling water, knowing that she really wanted a root beer, but she didn't want to actually make them mad at her. She hates discussing Touchy Subjects with them. Hates it.

She has been married to Richie for over a year at this point, and she knows that they want her to leave him, that they were hoping she'd see sense or something ridiculous like that by this point, despite the fact that they know that they're happy together, that Jack and Carol are happy together, and that their ideas, their fantasies of Sharon and her ex-husband getting back together again are pointless, but the least they could do was be happy for her. Or pretend, at least.

The bill comes, and not a moment too soon, because the combination of sparkling mineral water and disgusting chef's salad, along with her parents' obvious disapproval, is beginning to make her stomach turn.

"Aren't you happy for me?"

Neither Rita nor Charles responds, and she starts to cry, not caring that everyone in the restaurant notices, not caring that they're her parents obnoxious friends.

"Sharry, stop being a baby!"

She hates that nickname. She doesn't know what's come over her, whether it's her hormones, or thirty-six years of pent up frustration, or the fact that she's just so sick of them trying to control her life, and she finds herself positively screaming at her mother.

"You know what? Fuck you! I don't care if you're happy for me or not! Just-fuck you, Mom, fuck you! And never call me fuckin' Sharry again!"

Her mother slaps her across the face, and she storms out of the country club, deciding to walk home.

For the first time, in her entire life, Sharon Spier actively hates her parents.

***

Mary Anne, who has never had a younger sibling, is thrilled to find out that she'll be having a half-brother or sister, and though Sharon's mood has been appropriately ruined by her parents lack of interest in their future grandchild, she somehow manages to cheer her up by promising to crochet the baby a blanket and to knit it little hats and booties, which she gets a head start on, even though Sharon is only barely three months pregnant and is barely showing and they don't even know what they're having yet.

"Honestly, Sharon, I don't know why they're not speaking to you. You'd think they'd be happy about the baby, even though they don't particularly like Dad."

She sighs, raking her hands through her thick blonde hair, debating whether or not she should tell Mary Anne the real reason why Rita and Charles are currently giving her the silent treatment.

"Honey, that's not really why they're mad at me."  
>"But that's what Dawn said. I don't understand it, of course."<br>"They're mad because I might have caused a scene at the country club while I was telling them about the baby. I just got so angry at them, and I sort of exploded."  
>"Is that where you got the mark on your face?"<p>

It's been a week, and though the welt from where her mother's rings got her is slightly better, it's still noticeable, and she touches it, nodding.

"My mom hit me. I might have deserved it. I did tell her to fuck off."  
>"But she must have done something to deserve it. Have you been treating it?"<p>

She shakes her head, causing her stepdaughter to cluck at her in impatience.

"Sorry, Mary Anne."  
>"It's okay. Come here, I'll do it."<p>

She lets Mary Anne dab the bacitracin on her wound, kissing her on the cheek, and she finds herself in a bear hug.

"Thanks, honey."  
>"You're welcome. Do you want to go to Cabbages and Kings? My treat."<p>

The thought of vegetarian fare makes her stomach turn, ever so slightly, and she shakes her head. She wants pizza.

"How about Pizza Express?"  
>"Really?"<br>"Yeah."  
>"Okay. Are you sure?"<br>"Yes, I'm sure. Come on, let's go. And I can pay for it, honey."  
>"You sure?"<br>"Yes. I want some pizza."

Mary Anne looks as if she's going to faint from shock when Sharon orders the pepperoni pizza, and she smiles innocently.

"I thought you didn't like meat!"  
>"I'm not Dawn, Mary Anne. I eat meat. And desserts."<p>

She takes a bite of the pizza, picturing the look of horror that would be on Dawnie's face if she could see them, and she smirks, continuing to speak.

"Besides, it would make sense that the baby makes me crave some of your father's favorite foods, wouldn't it?"  
>"Really? Already?"<br>"Yeah. Already? Mary Anne, I've been pregnant for three months!"  
>"I know. How are you feeling?"<p>

She smiles, taking a sip of her drink. Mary Anne was so sweet.

"Fine, honey. I'm doing okay. How's school going?"  
>"Fine. I wish that Cokie and Logan weren't going out, though."<br>"Why? You two broke up almost a year ago. It's not like he cheated on you with her."  
>"I know. It's just that it's Cokie, Sharon. She hates me."<br>"Still?"  
>"Uh-huh."<br>"I'm sorry, honey."  
>"It's not your fault."<br>"I know. I am sorry, though."

They finished their first slices of pizza.

"Were you jealous of my mom?"  
>"Honey, I met her once, I think? And I was already married to Jack, and she made your father happy, so not really, I don't think."<br>"You met her?"  
>"Yeah, when Peaches got married, I was her bridesmaid, and Richie, Jack, your mother and I met for lunch one day when we were in town for the wedding."<br>"Really?"  
>"Yeah."<br>"What was she like?"  
>"Oh, Mary Anne..."<p>

She barely remembered meeting Alma.

"...she was shy, and quiet, and I think Jack frightened her a bit, you know how obnoxious he can be, but she seemed to love your father."  
>"Thanks, Sharon."<br>"You're welcome, honey. I'm sorry you don't have a mother."

Her stepdaughter looks her in the eye.

"What are you talking about? I have you, don't I?"  
>"What?"<br>"I never knew my mom, Sharon, and you've been a wonderful stepmother and I kinda consider you to be like my mother. I mean obviously my birth mother is technically my real mother, but you're the one that's helping Dad raise me."  
>"Thank you, honey."<p>

She's crying, and she can't help it, but at least it isn't because her mother smacked her on the face this time.

***

She is at the grocery store, where, of all the unfortunate combinations of people, she runs into her dear old Aunt Tabitha and the ever so grating Karen Brewer, who has taken a special interest in her since she found out she was related to her next door neighbor, and who happens to be shopping with her mother, Lisa, who is apparently, much to Sharon's complete and total annoyance, letting her offspring run around the entire store.

She can sense the headache already, though her aunt thinks that Karen is a wonderfully sweet child, despite the fact that she calls her Morbidda Destiny, and actually calls the child over to them! Of course, Karen obliges, likely thinking that she'll have a spell put on her if she doesn't. She lets out a sigh.

"Hello Morbidda Destiny and Mrs. Spier! How are you, today? I am well. Mommy and I are grocery shopping because this month is a Little House month, which means I do not live at the Big House with Daddy, Elizabeth, Kristy, Sam, David Michael, and Emily Michelle! Did you know that I am a Two-Two? Two years ago my teacher, Mrs. Colman, read us a wonderful book called "Jacob Two Two and the Hooded Fang" and that is how I came up with the name to describe me and Andrew! I miss having you live at the Big House, Mrs. Spier! Is it true that you are having a baby and if so may I baby sit it? I wish to be the best babysitter in the world, like Kristy is!"

Fortunately, Karen paused for breath. She shot her aunt a pleading look. This was all her fault, anyways! She was pregnant, she didn't need to be annoyed!

"Karen, where is Lisa?"  
>"Mommy told me to go look around the store! I think I am giving her a headache!"<p>

Sharon could hardly imagine why.

"When you get older, okay?"  
>"Really? Oh, thank you, Mrs. Spier! You are the best! I hope that you have a girl so I can teach her how to play Lovely Ladies!"<br>"That would be nice..."  
>"It would be! Oh, Mommy, why are you here? Did Morbidda Destiny tell you where I was? Mrs. Spier lived with us at the Big House when her house burned down after Kristy graduated from eighth grade! It was great fun!"<p>

That was one way of putting it...

"Karen? It was really nice to see you, but I have to go, okay?"  
>"Okay, Mrs. Spier! Tell Mary Anne and Dawn and Mr. Spier that I said hello, please! I hope that Mary Anne babysits for me soon!"<br>"I will, honey."

Karen beamed at her and skipped off, chatting with her mother about something. She shook her head.

"Thanks a lot, Auntie Tab."  
>"Karen likes you!"<br>"She thinks you're a witch and she is starting fourth grade!"  
>"She just has an imagination!"<p>

Sharon sighed.


End file.
